‘Not planning to buy Manchester United’: Elon Musk denies speculations
‘Not planning to buy Manchester United’: Elon Musk denies speculations
After setting social media ablaze by announcing in a tweet that he was getting set to buy English Premier League’s footballing giant Manchester United, Tesla CEO Elon Musk doused cold water on the speculations.
Are you serious?
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) August 17, 2022
Musk has a history of provocative and unconventional social media posts, and this could be one in that series. He had earlier pulled out of a much-publicised Twitter acquisition, and is currently locked in a lengthy legal battle with the social media organisation.
This latest withdrawal is unlikely to go down well with the Manchester United fans. Majority shares of the club are in hands of the Glazer family in the US, and there is widespread anger among the fans at what they perceive to be the fall of a once-great footballing institution. There is rising anger and resentment at the ownership, leading to protests at matches.
Also, I’m buying Manchester United ur welcome
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2022
In nine years, there have been five permanent managers, $1 billion spent on players and zero Premier League titles. With no long-term strategy or sporting director in place, the club has flipped between managers with different styles of play—from the direct approach of David Moyes (2013-14), to the possession-based play of Louis van Gaal (2014-16), to Jose Mourinho’s approach based on power and pragmatism (2016-18), and then to the counterattacking style of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (2018-21).
Standup is my side-hustle
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2022
That lack of continuity has been highlighted in United’s recruitment, with each manager wanting to bring in different players to suit their style of play. Even from Mourinho to Solskjaer, there was a major cultural shift, from bringing in established, high-profile stars like Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexis Sanchez to a strategy of signing young British players like Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
